Lighting up candles, St. Petersburg, Russia

I caught this picture inside of the Kazan cathedral on Nevsky prospect with a women lighting up candles. Russians are quite zealous people in religion. All women must wear a scarf overhead when entering a church. They light up candles and then sign and bow themselves in front of the icons. Some icons due to their importance, get kissed by people as well, who queue up for it.

I had to do this picture in hurry due that it was forbidden inside to take any pictures.

Shot taken with a Kodak Tri-X 400 film.

Busted wall or facades, St. Petersburg, Russia

St. Petersburg is full of decaying walls or building facades and this around many places in the city even close to historical places in the center. I find these actually quite appealing to photograph due to the amount of details and textures they provide. I sometime also try add some movement in like in the below examples of a women making a call or a biker passing-by.

Shots taken with Kodak Tri-X 400 & Agfa APX 400 film.

Street signs, St. Petersburg, Russia

Street signs or panels are another kind of favorite for me to shoot. I like to shoot them from different perspective and also possibly including some background with them when I feel it suits the picture.

Below shots have been taken with a Leica M7, Zeiss 50mm lense and using Agfa APX 400 film.

Water flakes, St. Petersburg, Russia

I also like shooting water flakes. They can be quite interesting in terms of deviating the real shape of a building for example or of a person through the riddles of the water. They can be also intriguing due to their mirroring perspective. I have taken a few of these water flake shots in SPB.

All shots taken with a Leica M7, Zeiss Planar and using Agfa APX 400 film.

The shot below was taken in one of not so cozy neighborhood of St. Petersburg. It was shot in April when the snow melts in the city and almost everywhere you find water leaking on the asphalt as well as mud. This is due I believe to poor sewage system that prevents all this water to leak properly off the roads. This shot shows part of a man strolling his child.

This 2nd shot is off the iconic Lada car. I initially wanted to have someone as well stepping over the flake to add some dynamism to the picture. Unfortunately, I was not much lucky on this one that day. Nevertheless, it still shows some very strong icons of Russia both being the Lada car and those big cold and rubbled story buildings built in the communist era.

Spiked railings, St. Petersburg, Russia

I find myself sometime shooting railings. These can be quite photogenic in my opinion with quite various forms and shapes or adornments on them. They also show repetitions which can be of a photographic advantage. This particular railing I liked of its spiked top and complemented well with the background pedestrian panel.

Shot taken with a Leica M7, Zeiss Planar 50mm and using Kodak Tri-X Film.

Yield sign on building, St. Petersburg, Russia

This yield sign caught my eye in the center of St. Petersburg. It's actually surreal to see such sign hanging on the wall of a building, instead on the street. However, it is placed underneath some greek stlyle columns and I can think the sign is related somehow to the verticalness of these columns. The facade of the building looked quite in rubbles.

Shot taken with a Leica M7, Zeiss Planar 50mm & using Kodak Trix-X 400 film.

Passer-by and arched bridge, St. Petersburg, Russia

I'm always interested to catch geometrical forms or shapes and this bridge caught my eye with its croissant shape. I also wanted to include some dynamism to this picture, so I patiently waited until somebody would show up on the bridge and so this lady did. This lady also made a good opposition with the lamp post. I did not notice in first place, but some shadows on the bridge did come out pretty well.

Photo taken with a Leica M7, Zeiss Planar 50mm & using Kodak Tri-X 400 film.